Youth Novels

The House of Special Purpose

Shortlisted for the German Leserpreis for Novel of the Year 2010

Eighty year old Georgy Jachmenev is haunted by his past – a past of death, suffering and scandal that will stay with him until the end of his days. Living in England with his beloved wife Zoya, Georgy prepares to make one final journey back to the Russia he once knew and loved, the Russia that both destroyed and defined him.

As Georgy remembers days gone by, we are transported to St Petersburg in the early 20th century, to the Winter Palace of the Tsar. A time of change, threat and bloody revolution.

And as Georgy overturns the most painful stone of all, we uncover the story of the house of special purpose.

Reviews

A tour de force, at once epic and intimate, and above all a marvellous read.

John Banville

John Boyne brings a completely fresh eye to the most important stories. He is prepared to look at the dark, yet somehow manages to find whatever light was there in the first place. He guides us through the realm of history and makes the journey substantial, poignant, real. He is one of the great craftsmen in contemporary literature.

Colum McCann

Boyne exercises total control over pace and revelation. A work that chimes perfectly with our times.

The Irish Times

No Irish writer since perhaps the late Brian Moore has possessed the same facility for recreating diverse historical places as John Boyne. Boyne is a natural storyteller…This is an intriguing novel, restrained and unafraid of sentiment, imbued with an old-fashioned sense of fidelity.